As expected, two basilisks spawned in front of them before they could do anything. Much to Billy's surprise, the creatures soon fell to the ground and some blood began to gush from a wound that suddenly appeared on their foreheads. When he turned around, he saw those three looking pretty confident.
"I guess that is better, if you have a brain, you should use it," Billy said.
While Billy didn't know what had happened, he will learn after seeing that repeating itself a few times, but it was pretty evident that they combined their powers. In any case, they had some time to test that, so they should feel confident that their mana won't be depleted that fast.
Since the three morons were using their heads, the difficulty level of that floor didn't bother them much. Since the enemies were appearing in front and behind them again, they split the work and Billy was dealing with the enemies that spawned in front of them. Things were the same as usual on his end, but he figured that things would improve after the next stop.
"Billy, do you think that once those skills of the tenth tier reach the level max, they will evolve and become like one of ours?" Icarus asked.
"I think so," Billy replied.
"What about our other innate skill?" Icarus asked. "I was thinking that perhaps they will obtain that as well as a reward or something."
"While the possibility exists, the chances are small," Billy said.
"Why?" Icarus asked.
"If one of us could obtain all those skills using the system, we would have to kill each other," Billy explained. "We could just use the dungeons in this world and grind peacefully."
"Hmm… makes sense," Icarus said.
"We should think of ways to counter those skills," Lucyna said. "He is already powerful enough with the powers of six reincarnated individuals like us, and with those extras…"
Truth to be told, if it weren't for the system, Billy wouldn't worry about the enemy at all, he only feared him because he could obtain his power, Icarus and Lucyna's. The combination of those three was way too troublesome. The proof of that was the strength that Billy was obtaining there. He already got eighty level-ups in just two weeks.
"Even if we use weeks to think of such plans, the enemy had much more time to think of counters for possible counters," Billy said. "In the end, it will be better if we improvise and surprise him. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, I hope that you have the same to use in emergencies."
They looked at each other… they had that, it was pretty evident with the silence that they showed. Everyone has a secret or two, after all. In any case, Billy began to lead the group again, but then he suddenly stopped when he found something ahead with his drones. After a couple of minutes, he led the group to a dead end where they found a pile of bones.
"... Who do you think this belongs to?" Icarus asked.
"To someone who was one of us, the bones have a large concentration of magic, that is why they are still intact after staying in this dungeon for so long," Billy replied. "However, it doesn't belong to the maker, I am sure."
If that were the case, Billy's wives wouldn't be fighting the invaders even at that moment. So, he assumed that someone that challenged the dungeon hundreds of years ago and failed…
"Are you going to use the bones?" Lucyna asked.
"No way, I wouldn't go that far…" Billy replied. "What about you, Meryl? Can you turn this guy into one of your skellies?"
"Don't call it skellies…" Meryl said. "I can try, but I have a bad feeling about this."
Meryl approached and Billy felt her magic in action enveloping the bones, but for some reason, it was repelled. She tried several times more while frowning, but nothing happened.
"As expected, something is off…" Meryl said.
"Maybe the enemy found this and considered the possibility that you might use it and put some seals on it," Billy said. "Maybe he failed to destroy this as well."
"Sealing magic, is that even a thing here?" Lucyna asked.
"From my perspective, magic can pretty much do anything, as you long you enough effort to create it, most effects can be achieved," Billy explained. "While it isn't the same thing, I can create tools that force most people to stay in a place unable to muster any strength. With some refining…"
"I see… this is rather a dangerous type of magic," Lucyna said.
Billy couldn't agree more, unfortunately, there are things worse than death, and in a world were people live for a lot longer than the people from Earth, that was even more true. Billy was pretty sure that he could seal the souls of monsters and people into objects with some advanced Spirit Magic and that wasn't even a tier ten skill in the shop. It was hard to imagine having one's souls being moved from their body to an object, but it shouldn't be pleasant.
Billy also wondered why the monsters never bothered to eat their bones… were they hard to eat and digest? He couldn't think of any other explanation. In any case, after a couple of hours, the group found the entrance to the next floor and stopped to rest again. As for Billy, it was finally time to put the results of his training to the test.
"Let's try it… I hope that this won't fry my brain," Billy thought while he moved his armor and grabbed the light-speed sword from it.
Due to the shape of the weapon, Billy knew that it wouldn't be as easy as his armor to absorb the mana. If he fails once, who knows what will happen with an item of that level… so he decided to take some risks to increase the chance of the process working… he stabbed himself on the stomach.
